Man charged in hit-run Halloween deaths of 3 teens SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against a driver charged with fleeing in his SUV after fatally striking three Southern California teenage girls as they were trick-or-treating on Halloween. Jaquinn Bell, 31, was charged with three felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, one felony count of hit-and-run with permanent injury or death, and one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license, th...

Voters holding their noses, hoping for change Coast to coast, voters cast ballots with an audible harrumph on Tuesday — many of them unhappy with their choices and doubtful things will get better no matter who wins. There's Emily Conover, a 39-year-old saleswoman from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who voted for Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes over Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Conover said she "didn't really like either of them." There's Ron Buck, a 44-year-old roofer...

Early votes exceed 15 million — but who benefits? WASHINGTON (AP) — Early votes soared past 15 million across 31 states on Friday, an outpouring that is giving hopeful Republicans as well as nervous Democrats cause for optimism heading into the final weekend of a campaign with control of the Senate, the U.S. House and 36 governorships at stake. Republicans pointed to a strong early-vote performance in Iowa as evidence that Joni Ernst was a step ahead in her bid to capture a Senate seat for th...

Spacecraft for tourists explodes on test flight MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — A winged spaceship designed to take tourists on excursions beyond Earth's atmosphere exploded during a test flight Friday over the Mojave Desert, killing a pilot in the second fiery setback for commercial space travel in less than a week. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo blew apart after being released from a carrier aircraft at high altitude, said Ken Brown, a photographer who witnessed the explosion. One pilot was found d...

Death penalty sought for trooper ambush suspect LORDS VALLEY, Pa. (AP) — A survivalist accused of ambushing two state troopers, killing one and seriously wounding the other, was captured on Thursday by U.S. marshals in an abandoned airplane hangar, ending a seven-week manhunt that had rattled the nerves of area residents, authorities said. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Eric Frein, who meekly gave himself up when surrounded, District Attorney Ray Tonkin said. "He did not just g...

Police: 2 dead, including gunman, in school attack MARYSVILLE, Wash. (AP) — A student recently crowned freshman class Homecoming prince walked into his Seattle-area high school cafeteria Friday and opened fire, killing one person and shooting several others in the head before turning the gun on himself, officials and witnesses said. Students said the gunman was staring at students as he shot them inside the cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The shootings set off a chaotic scene as ...

Arkansas Department of Health continues to provide Ebola guidance, training to health care facilitiesLITTLE ROCK — While Ebola poses a very low risk to Arkansans, the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) continues to work with hospitals, emergency medical service providers, laboratories, waste water management facilities, faith-based organizations, the State Chamber of Commerce and the Departments of Education and Higher Education to provide guidance and training to ensure they can appropriately screen, monitor and care for individuals who may...

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Arkansas Department of HealthThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Second Texas nurse tests positive for Ebola DALLAS (AP) — The Ebola crisis in the U.S. took another alarming turn Wednesday with word that a second Dallas nurse caught the disease from a patient and flew across the Midwest aboard an airliner the day before she fell ill, even though government guidelines should have kept her off the plane. Amid growing concern, President Barack Obama canceled a campaign trip to address the outbreak and vowed that his administration would respond in a "mu...

Newspaper corrects bear attack error made in 1852 NEWTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey newspaper has issued a correction for a story it published in 1852 about a bear mauling a teenage boy to death. The story didn't list a location of the bear attack, making it appear it happened in New Jersey. The New Jersey Herald wrote in Thursday's correction it actually happened in Arkansas. Herald Executive Editor Bruce Tomlinson said a reader pointed out the error when the newspaper re-published the story ...

Dow plunges 334, its worst day of 2014 NEW YORK (AP) — Just one day after the market had its best day of 2014, it had its worst day of 2014. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 334 points on Thursday as a decline in energy stocks and worries about the global economy sent investors fleeing out of the market. It was the biggest point drop since June 2013. It was also the third straight day investors have been taken on a wild roller coaster ride. On Tuesday the Dow fell 272 point...

US Ebola patient diesWASHINGTON (AP) — The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died Wednesday despite intense but delayed treatment, and the government announced it was expanding airport examinations to guard against the spread of the deadly disease. The checks will include taking the temperatures of hundreds of travelers arriving from West Africa at five major American airports. The new screenings will begin Saturday at New York's JFK International Airp...

1st Ebola patient diagnosed in the US has diedDALLAS (AP) — The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States died in a Dallas hospital Wednesday, a little more than a week after his illness exposed gaps in the nation's defenses against the disease and set off a scramble to track down anyone exposed to him. Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, was pronounced dead at 7:51 a.m. at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where he had been kept in isolation since Sept. 28. "Mr. Duncan succumbed to an ins...

Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for some part-timers NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to eliminate health insurance coverage for some of its part-time U.S. employees in a move aimed at controlling rising health care costs of the nation's largest private employer. Wal-Mart told The Associated Press that starting Jan. 1, it will no longer offer health insurance to employees who work less than an average of 30 hours a week. The move affects 30,000 employees, or about 5 percent of Wal-Mart...

Hospital: Dallas Ebola patient critical DALLAS (AP) — The condition of the lone Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the U.S. has worsened and is now deemed critical, the Dallas hospital that has been treating him reported Saturday. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where Thomas Eric Duncan is being treated, didn't provide any further details about his condition, and a hospital spokeswoman, Candace White, didn't immediately respond to emails and phone calls. The hospital previo...

Police made tough call with UVa student missing McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Police have revealed next to nothing about the evidence they have against Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., and they won't have to for months to come. But his name is already familiar in Virginia, and linked by authorities to multiple crimes involving young women. Charlottesville police identified Matthew as a suspect even before his arrest last week in Texas on a warrant alleging he abducted University of Virginia student Hannah Gra...

Police: Phelps' eyes, speech affected at DUI stop BALTIMORE (AP) — Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps registered .14 percent on a blood-alcohol test after he was stopped on a speeding violation, according to charging documents released Wednesday. The legal limit for intoxication in Maryland is .08. Phelps, 29, was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence, excessive speed and crossing double lane lines in the Fort McHenry Tunnel on Interstate 95 in his native Baltimore, according to the Ma...

Secret Service chief quits due to security lapses WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Julia Pierson abruptly resigned Wednesday in the face of multiple revelations of security breaches, bumbling in her agency and rapidly eroding confidence that the president and his family were being kept safe. President Barack Obama "concluded new leadership of that agency was required," said spokesman Josh Earnest. High-ranking lawmakers from both parties had urged her to step down after her poorly re...

Ebola-infected passenger was sent home from ERDALLAS (AP) — The airline passenger who brought Ebola into the U.S. initially went to a Dallas emergency room last week but was sent home, despite telling a nurse that he had been in disease-ravaged West Africa, the hospital said Wednesday in a disclosure that showed how easily an infection could be missed. The decision by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to release the patient, who had recently arrived from Liberia, could have put others at...

Authorities: Police officer shot in FergusonFERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities said a police officer was shot Saturday night in Ferguson, Missouri, the scene of racial unrest in the wake of the August shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer. Tim Zoll of the Ferguson Police Department told KSDK-TV that the officer was shot in the arm. St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman told The Associated Press that an officer was shot but said he had no furt...

Clooney marries human rights lawyer in Venice VENICE, Italy (AP) — George Clooney married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Saturday, the actor's representative said, out of sight of pursuing paparazzi and adoring crowds. A smiling Clooney traveled up the spectacular Grand Canal to his wedding standing coolly aboard a water-taxi, waving to hundreds of well-wishers on shore and a flotilla of photographers chasing a glimpse of his final moments of bachelorhood. With the pink sunset casting...